[其他] Critical issues for school counselor performance appraisal and supervision. [推广有奖]

Critical issues for school counselor performance appraisal and supervision

Section: features
Performance appraisal and supervision of practicing counselors are emerging issues with implications for the future development and identity of the counseling profession. This is true for counselors in all professional settings and is particularly true for school counselors because of the emphasis on accountability in educational professions.
The issue of supervision has been addressed in the counseling literature, and recently the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision published two books-one focusing on counseling supervision (Borders & Leddick, 1987) and another on administrative supervision (Falvey, 1987). Counselor performance appraisal, on the other hand, has not received comparable attention. If counselor accountability is given serious consideration, the issue of performance appraisal must be addressed and appropriate evaluation processes developed.
In this article, I present some basic questions surrounding the performance appraisal of school counselors. Questions about performance appraisal of counselors invariably raise issues related to the overall supervision and evaluation of counselors. These supervision and evaluation issues revolve around three fundamental questions: What will be evaluated, how will performance appraisal be done, and who will evaluate? Each is a critical question in counselor evaluation processes.
WHAT WILL BE EVALUATED?
The counselor's role, function and essential competencies have been identified in counseling literature. Yet, as Ficklen (1987) pointed out, "the basic problem for administrators . . . is this: What, exactly, are counselors supposed to be accomplishing?" (p. 19). More succinctly, what behaviors and practices should counselors be able to demonstrate, and which of these practices are illustrative of effective functioning?
In schools, principals are usually the primary evaluators of counselors. By and large. principals have training in instruction and are capable of assessing teacher performance. Evaluating school counselors, on the other hand, requires knowledge and training in areas other than those associated with teaching. A school counselor's role encompasses a variety of functions and competencies, many of which differ from the instructional practices expected of classroom teachers. For this reason, some aspects of supervising and evalauating counselors are different from the performance appraisal processes for classroom teachers.
Supervision and evaluation of counselors require a clear delineation of malor functions areas, relevant competencies, and appropriate behavioral indicators of counseling practices. Some states and school systems have proposed mayor areas of counselor responsibilities and specifications for assessing these functions (Breckenridge, 1987; Counselor Orientation ManuaL 1986; Kuzminski & Renwick, 1983). In North Carolina (School Counselor Performance Appraisal Instrument, 1987), the performance appraisal of school counselors is based on the assessment of the following major functions:
Program Planning. Competencies listed under this function focus on the counselor's organizational abilities, planning skills. and time management.
Counseling. In this function, counselors are appraised on their knowledge of appropriate counseling models. techniques, and processes for individual and group relationships. In addition, counselors are assessed on their diagnostic and follow-up practices.
Consulting. The essential competencies for this function include a knowledge of consulting processes and techniques and the application of instructional and informational presentation skills with groups of students, parents, and teachers.
Coordinating. This major function includes competencies and practices that demonstrate a counselor's communication skills, appropriate use of referral processes. effective coordination of student services, and willingness to advocate for all students.
Student Appraisal. Knowledge and utilization of standardized and nonstandardized assessment practices constitute this major function area.
Professional Practices and Development. The focus of competencies in this area is on ethical and legal practices and on a counselor's initiative toward professional development.
Valid and reliable assessment instruments are critical to the accurate performance appraisal of practicing counselors. Unlike teacher performance research (Holdzkom, 1987), counseling literature has not shown empirical evidence that delineates specific competencies and practices to precisely measure school counselor effectiveness. As a result, counselor performance appraisal instruments generally are developed from a pool of items that reflect a consensus among counselors and counseling supervisors of what they believe to be essential counseling practices.
Careful examination of the major functions and competencies on counselor evaluation instruments (such as those used by North Carolina) finds that the process of collecting data to measure performance appraisal of counselors has to be more varied than the single observation process used in teacher evaluation. Typically, teacher evaluation is performed by analyzing data collected in classroom observations (Holdzkom, 1987). Examination of counselor functions shows that many different types of data need to be gathered from a variety of activities to provide a comprehensive counselor evaluation. This finding raises the question of how will data be collected in the performance appraisal process?
HOW WILL PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL BE DONE?
The scope of school counselor activities and the nature of counseling services raise questions about how to evaluate counselor performance. In particular, school counselors ask about assessing confidential services, such as counseling and student appraisal functions If the expectation is that all counselor functions will be evaluated, what are some appropriate methods of data collection for counselor performance appraisal? The following list provides a sample of data collection methods and evaluative processes that have potential for school counselor performance appraisal (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 1988).
Observation
Some counseling services may be inappropriate or, at best, difficult to observe. There are a few activities, however, that can be assessed through observation. These activities include instructional and informational presentations by counselors. Classroom activities, parent educational programs, and teacher in-service presentations can be observed with minimal risk of intruding on sensitive relationship or of disrupting the dynamics of helping relationships.
Observation of counselor activities requires the use of scripting techniques or rating scales that accurately focus on essential competencies and practices. In addition, a formal observation should be preceded by a conference between the observer and counselor so the purpose of the activity can be described and a focus of the observation can be agreed on before beginning. The observation should be followed by a postobservation conference to give feedback to the counselor.
While informational and instructional services are seldom confidential in nature, permission to observe such an activity should be sought, particularly when Individual or small group sessions are involved. Any time an individual conference or small group session Is observed for the purpose of counselor evaluation, the participants of that conference or session should give their permission for the observation.
Video and Audio Tapes
One way of collecting data on confidential services without intruding on the helping relationship is to tape the sessions. Video and audio tapes can be used by counselors to demonstrate competent use of basic helping skills. When taping is used to collect data for performance appraisal, it is necessary to obtain client permission and to explain exactly how the tape will be used and by whom. If the client is a young child, permission from a parent or guardian should be considered because, in a legal sense, a child's ability to give consent is uncertain.
While listening to or viewing a tape, an evaluator should have a process for recording data and rating the counselor's skills. I recommend that when a review of a tape is completed, the tape be destroyed to protect the client and to avoid over-evaluation of the session. An evaluator should bring only notes and ratings to the postobservation conference.
Interviews
Another method of collecting data for counselor performance appraisal is to interview the counselor about specific services and activities. Interviews can be used to gather data about a number of counseling activities. For instance, a series of structured interviews with a counselor about a particular counseling case could provide information to judge the counselor's diagnostic skills, knowledge of counseling models and techniques, and follow-up procedures. The Appendix illustrates a sample form that can be used for structured interviews.
Simulated Activities.
When observations or tapes are impractical methods of collecting performance appraisal data, counselors and evaluators can arrange to use simulated activities. For example, if a counselor wants to demonstrate student appraisal skills, a simulated testing session could be set up. In this simulation the person being tested would know that the session was for demonstration only. By using a demonstration, the observer, counselor, and person being examined would not be concerned about intruding on a confidential relationship or unintentionally influencing the testing results.
Work Products
Depending on the setting in which they work, school counselors produce a variety of reports, handbooks, memoranda, policies, and other projects. These products can be used to evaluate communication skills, time management, staff relationships, and other counselor competencies. The evaluation of work products provides supportive data for ratings obtained by observing other practices and services. Such support strengthens the evaluative process and lends credence to recommendations for improvement or professional growth.
Schedules
Because school counselors offer a wide spectrum of services, it is appropriate to evaluate how they spend their time, manage case loads, and follow up on services. An examination of schedules allows evaluators the opportunity to assess how counselors balance their time across multiple services expected in comprehensive counseling programs.
A counselor schedule reflects the breadth of services being delivered. For instance. a school counselor who schedules an inordinate amount of time leading classroom activities might be questioned about other services, such as group counseling, parent education, and teacher consultation, that contribute to a balanced and comprehensive counseling program.
Records
Examination of records is another method of collecting performance appraisal data. Evaluators can review counselor records on which the client identification has been deleted, can assess the interventions selected by the counselor, and can measure the outcomes of these interventions. By examining counselor records, an evaluator gathers data to support and advise the counselor about clinical and programming decisions.
Consumer Feedback
There are many ways that counselors and their evaluators receive information from consumers of counseling services. School counselors frequently survey students, parents, and teachers about their needs and their reactions to counseling services. Review of these data helps counselors and evaluators look at program strengths and weaknesses through the eyes of those who are receiving services.
Some consumer feedback occurs incidentally. Occasionally, informal and unsolicited comments about the school counseling program and services are heard by the counselor and evaluator. This incidental feed back is useful for performance appraisal when it is reliable, can be documented, and can be acted on realistically.
The preceding methods of collecting performance appraisal data are imperfect, and some caveats should be noted. First, there is a question of time. With time management being so important to practicing counselors, is it reasonable to expect school counselors to find time in their schedules to collect data or do "simulated activities" simply for the purpose of performance appraisal? Decisions aboutvalid performance appraisal processes and methods of data collection should include serious consideration of this time factor.
Another caution focuses on the mechanisms and instruments for rating and compiling data. Are reliable valid instruments available for counselor evaluation? Personnel decisions that are based on faulty measurements risk personal and professional integrity and open the door to unnecessary and damaging I litigation. For this reason the development of counselor performance appraisal instruments should reflect accepted professional practices found in the counseling literature and, equally important, input about job functions from the school counselors who are being evaluated.
Finally, if sufficient time and valid instruments are available, are there supervisors and principals adequately trained in counseling to analyze data collected through observation and other methods, and are they capable of making accurate judgements about the performance of practicing counselors? It makes little sense to have seemingly appropriate methods of data collection if the data are going to be judged by untrained observers and evaluators. This leads to the next question about counselor performance appraisal: Who will do the evaluation?
WHO WILL EVALUATE?
Counselors are frequently supervised and evaluated by professionals who have little or no training in counseling theory and practice. This is particularly true for school counselors, who are typically supervised and evaluated by their principals (Schmidt & garret. 1983). Added to this dilemma is the reality that school principals are overburdened with administrative duties and barely have time to supervise their classroom teachers. The efficacy of counselor performance appraisal is jeopardized when critical functions cannot be adequately assessed so that strengths can be recognized and weaknesses remediated.
Supervision of professional counselors has been described as a threefold process: administrative supervision, developmental (program) supervision, and clinical and technical supervision (Barrel & Schmidt, 1986). A clear understanding of the importance of each type of supervision is critical to the development of appropriate and accurate counselor performance appraisal. The following descriptions of counselor supervision will assist in determining the who of counselor performance appraisal.
Administrative Supervision
This category of supervision addresses general behaviors that are fundamental to counselor performance. These behaviors include, but are not limited to, daily attendance, time management, written and verbal communication skills, staff relationships, and adherence to institutional policies. The best person to supervise and evaluate a counselor in these behaviors is an immediate supervisor. For school counselors, that person is typically the building principal.
Program Supervision
Counselors are responsible for planning, organizing, and delivering an array of services within the structure of a comprehensive program. Program supervision guides the counselor toward goals, objectives, and services that fit within the broader mission of the school and school system. Appropriate supervision helps counselors to understand the mission of the school and school system and to develop services to assist with that mission. The best person to supervise this endeavor is one who understands the school's mission and is knowledgeable of the counselors role in an educational setting. In school systems with many counselors, this would be a central office supervisor who is trained and certified in school counseling. In systems with fewer counselors, it might be an experienced practicing counselor who functions as a supervising or lead counselor.
Clinical and Technical Supervision
A third category of supervision focuses on the counselor's performance of critical functions that are unique to, or identified with, the counseling profession. Such functions usually include counseling processes, consulting skills, and assessment knowledge and techniques. The person who provides clinical and technical supervision of counselors is a highly trained professional counselor. Because this is so, supervision in this area is not always easy to provide. Typically, there are insufficient personnel and funds to allocate persons or contract services so that adequate supervision can be given in this area. If counselor performance appraisal is designed and administered appropriately, clinical and technical supervision are adequately addressed.
Resources and personnel will continue to be limited in institutions, such as schools, that hire professional counselors. For that reason, options for direct on-site clinical and technical supervision are needed. These options could include peer supervision by practicing counselors within the school system; supervision by counselors from other institutions, such as mental health counselors: supervision by central office coordinators who also provide program supervision; and supervision by counselor educators from training programs in colleges and universities.
All three types of counselor supervision--administrative, program, and clinical and technical--contribute to counselor performance appraisal. It is reasonable to expect that if all three types are provided by different supervisors, these supervisors would participate in collecting and analyzing data for counselor performance appraisal. Primary responsibility for summative evaluation of the school counselor rests with the school principal. Ideally, the principal would receive input from program and clinical supervisors to assist with counselor evaluation.
CONCLUSION
Appropriate performance appraisal of professional school counselors requires the consideration of a number of issues. A primary issue is the identification of mayor functions and essential competencies on which data are collected to assess counselor performance. Research is needed to help counselors and their evaluators identify functions and competencies that clearly relate to counselor effectiveness. Once these functions and competencies are identified, reliable and valid instruments are needed to measure counselor performance. The instruments should relate to counselor training and job expectations.
In addition to measurement instruments, counselors and evaluators need to agree on appropriate methods of data collection. These methods should be described and agreed on during planning sessions at the beginning of the evaluation year. Without adequate planning. performance appraisal is, at best, limited and, at worst, personally and professionally damaging.
Adequate instruments, appropriate methods of data collection, and agreeable processes are as good as the persons who administer them, Performance appraisal of school counselors will not be a fully worthwhile endeavor unless evaluators who are trained in counseling are included in the process. The counseling profession and schools that hire counselors need to give serious consideration to this issue.
Lastly, the purpose of performance appraisal should focus on professional development. All school counselors, regardless of the depth and quality of their training, want to continue to grow and improve professionally. Adequate counselor supervision and appropriate counselor evaluation can contribute to this goal. In this regard, an annual summative evaluation of a counselor provides analyses of data concerning functions and competencies and suggestions and support for future professional development.
REFERENCES
Barret, R. L.. & Schmidt, J. J. (19861. School counselor certification and supervision: Overlooked professional issues. Counselor Education and Supervision, 26, 50- 5 5 .
Borders, L. D. & Leddlek, G. R. (1987). Handbook of counseling supervision. Alexandria, VA Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.
Breckenridge, A. (1987). Performance improvement program helps administrators assess counselor performance. NASSP, 71. 23-26.
Counselor orientation manual. (1986). Nashville, TN: Tennessee Department of Education.
Falvey, J. E. (1987). Handbook of administrative supervision. Alexandria, VA: Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.
Ficklen, E. (1987). Why school counselors are so tough to manage and evaluate. The Executive Educator. 9, 19-20.
Holdzkom, D. (1987). Appraising teacher performance in North Carolina. Educational leadership, 44, 40-44.
Kuzminski, C., & Renwick. G. (1983). Evaluating and improving the performance of pupil personnel specialists. Spectrum, 6. 37-42.
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. (1988). Handbook for performance appraisal of student services personnel Unpublished manuscript, Division of Student Services, Raleigh, NC.
Schmidt. J. J., & garret, R L. (1983). Who's in charge? School counselor supervision in North Carolina. Counselor Education and Supervision, 23. 109116.
School counselor performance appraisal instrument. (1987). (Available from the Department of Public Instruction, Raleigh, NC 27603-1712.)
APPENDIX
Counselor Interview
Interviewer: This form can be used to assist counselors in understanding, implementing, and evaluating helping relationships. An interviewer who uses this form should be a trained counselor who understands the application of counseling services in a school setting.
Instructions: Use this form to interview the school counselor about a specific case of individual counseling. Ideally, the form should be used in more than one interview about the same case. Two or more interviews are recommended.
The counselor is able to express the concerns of the client. The counselor describes the assessment procedures used to identity concerns.
The counselor discusses the theoretical orientation and counseling approach used in the case. The approach seems appropriate for the identified concerns.
The counselor is able to describe what phase (stage) the counseling relationship is in. The progress being made seems appropriate, given the number of sessions held and the nature of the concern.
The counselor describes specific techniques, strategies, and approaches being used in this case (e.g., role play, lifestyle disclosure, puppetry, bibliotherapy, and cognitive structuring). The technique are appropriate for the case.
The counselor is able to project. how long the counseling relationship will need to be continued. The counselor discusses progress being made and a plan of action if progress is being made.
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By John J. Schmidt
John J. Schmidt is associate professor and chair of the Counselor and Adult Education Department at East Carolina University Greenville, North Carolina.